The Friday Music Shuffle (2.1.26)

Welcome to the New Year, which to all intents and purposes is exactly the same as the old one, not least because back once again is my Friday Music Shuffle.

Ten songs from my collection, chosen at random by my musical device, and I tell you, dear reader, what it has chosen. Should you wish to listen and even sing along, and that’s pretty well the whole point, then simply click on each song title and turn them speakers up.

I hope you all enjoy the show.

1. Rally by Phoenix. Twenty years old, this is from the US based French indie rockers’ album It’s Never Been Like That. They’re so good.
2. Prester John by Animal Collective. Such a brilliant band. This lush track is on their outstanding 2022 record Time Skiffs. True originals.
3. Hold The Line by Toto. Classic from the band’s first album Toto in 1978. Read drummer Jeff Porcaro’s description of his drumming on the track: “That was me trying to play like Sly Stone‘s original drummer, Greg Errico, who played drums on Hot Fun In The Summertime. The hi-hat is doing triplets, the snare drum is playing 2 and 4 backbeats, and the bass drum is on 1 and the & of 2. That 8th note on the second beat is an 8th-note triplet feel, pushed.” Well put, I’d say.
4. Porch by Pearl Jam. Now we head back to 1991 for a cracking joint from the band’s album Ten. I have to be in the right mood to listen to Eddie Vedder’s overblown vocals, but luckily I am today.
5. Night 52 by Christine and the Queens. This is gorgeous, from 2015’s Chaleur Humaine.
6. I Went To Sleep by The Beach Boys (A Capella version). The most gorgeous harmonies you will ever hear. Peak Beach Boys.
7. Come Back by José Padilla. This takes me back to Ibiza in the early 2000s, in particular the Café del Mar, where the resident DJ was José Padilla himself. Unfortunately, we were not clubbing. We had to leave early to collect our boys from the hotel kids club.
8. Long Train Runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers. Back to 1973 with an absolute banger from the band’s finest LP The Captain and Me. Buy this record.
9. Kashmir by Songhoy Blues. This is insanely magnificent, as Mali’s finest cover the Led Zep classic.
10. Find The River by R.E.M. I am in the small minority who believe 1992’s Automatic For The People was not the band’s finest work, but nonetheless, it’s still bloody good.

A very strong shuffle this week and by a short head my Desert Island Disc is Long Train Runnin’ by The Doobie Brothers.

Have a good week till next week.